After a hearing in a U.S. court on Thursday, Reuters reported that previous FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried had been released on a $250 million bail package. The claimed event occurred when he was detained for trial on fraud charges associated with the FTX Bitcoin exchange’s demise.
Authorities in Manhattan, according to Reuters, have accused him of stealing billions of dollars worth of customer assets from FTX. He did this to compensate for shortfalls at his hedge fund, Alameda Research.
SBF: FTX faced risk management issues
According to Reuters, no motion was made on Thursday for Bankman-Fried to plead guilty. In an admission, he acknowledged that FTX’s risk management was inadequate. Yet he insists he is innocent of any wrongdoing. Mark Cohen, his defence attorney during the federal court hearing in Manhattan, declined to comment afterwards.
Reuters said the next court date for Bankman-Fried was set for January 3, 2023, before U.S. District Attorney Ronny Abrams by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein.
In a further development, Damian Williams, the U.S. Prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, said that two colleagues of Bankman-Fried had been charged with the purported grift. Consequently, they made an undercover guilty plea as his private plane took off for the U. S. on Wednesday night, just as he was about to face charges there.
In what lies Free Bankman’s future?
Prosecutor Nicolas Roos informed U. S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein that, as part of his bail conditions, Bankman-Fried would have to provide his passport. Additionally, he has the right to remain under home detention at his parents’ Palo Alto, California, residence. Furthermore, he would need to have his mental health monitored and treated regularly.
Cohen said he accepted the suggested bail restrictions from the prosecution. However, to guarantee Bankman-Fried’s appearance in court, he said that Bankman-Fried’s parents, Stanford Law School professors, would co-sign the bond and deposit the equity in their house. Both showed up for the hearing.
Even though Bankman-Fried had committed an unprecedented deception, Roos claimed that he had no record of fleeing and that his financial holdings had been severely decreased.
If he had resisted, we would have argued against his freedom. Unfortunately, his financial situation has worsened. He was dismissed from his positions at FTX and Alameda due to financial wrongdoing. There is thus less of a concern for the community as a whole. One of the prosecutors acknowledged that our bail bid was on the high side.
